Hudson Valley native Heather Bell-Meyer, acting president and CEO of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, has remained confident throughout her professional career, offering other young women the same advice.

“Don’t be intimidated,” said Bell-Meyer on advice for future business professionals. “Everyone puts their pants on the same way. No one is better than you. Take a deep breath, know yourself, know your confidence and take your steps.”

Her professional career kick started after graduating from Berkeley College with her associate degree in business administration and Nyack College with her bachelor degree in organizational management, human resources. She began as a corporate relations specialist at Heineken USA, based out of White Plains.

“Being the new kid on the block, I was surprised my boss recognized qualities I probably didn’t even know I had,” said Bell-Meyer when she kept her job during a large reorganization of the company.

Following her work there, she utilized her entrepreneurial spirit and created her own event planning company, A Perfect Plan!, which specialized in corporate events, charitable fundraising and social events and earned her the “Best of Westchester” award for event planner and party planner.

“I went and sat down with Marsha Gordon, President of the Business Council of Westchester, and I [asked for help],” said Bell-Meyer about starting her new business. “She introduced me to other members of the business council and I never went to another trade show or took out another advertisement. Those credible introductions is something that I brought with me to the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. It went so much further than a simple cold call.”

After some time of running her event planning company, she accepted a position at the YMCA White Plains branch as an associate executive director.

Bell-Meyer launched unique programs and fundraisers to attract new members (a skill that is perfectly utilized with the Chamber of Commerce now as well), spearheaded new marketing and overall helped form community partnerships. Eventually, she moved up to the executive director position and also worked at the YMCA of Kingston and YWCA of Orange County as an executive consultant.

She started working with the Orange County Chamber of Commerce as a director of membership in 2020, but later was asked to also represent the organization as acting president and CEO.

“I was in the Leadership Orange program, I spent most, if not all, of my time in Orange County, and I feel like Orange County really has everything that you could ever ask for in the Hudson Valley – all tied up with a nice neat bow,” said Bell-Meyer. “The tourism is phenomenal and the economic growth is incredible. Calling it the crossroads of the northeast is an understatement. You have city life and you have country life. There is not much I can say about Orange County that I don’t love.”

Although she began her position as director of membership just months before the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down, she has tackled the challenge of starting a new job and navigating the pandemic world. Throughout the past year, Bell-Meyer wanted to ensure that members knew what resources were available, invite new members to join while continuing to work with existing members, show members a return on their investments, and overall have a focus on the small businesses and putting them first.

“My vision is that we continue to help existing members kind of refresh and renew and show them what we have that is available to them and help them take advantage of it,” said Bell-Myer. “But, we’re also changing things and taking our ties off a little bit. We’re embracing the fact that not all CEO’s wear business suits anymore.”

Bell-Meyer brings a fresh approach to the chamber, with an ambition to create an atmosphere that both blue and white collar professionals feel comfortable in and help intermingle people from various professional backgrounds, including small business owners as well. While she’s only sitting in the acting position, she plans to “hold down the fort” until the board makes a decision.

“I’m extremely blessed with the team I get to work with everyday,” said Bell-Meyer. “The team I get to work with every day is very passionate about what we do and who we do it for.”

Bell-Meyer is also a mom of two sons, who she raised alone for the majority of their lives and are her “greatest accomplishment.” They are now serving in the military in the Hudson Valley and one of them is soon to be a father and Bell-Meyer a grandmother. She is married to her husband, Fabien who is also a veteran. When Bell-Meyer has free time, she rides her motorcycle all over the county, hunts, fishes and enjoys hiking and paddle boarding.

The Orange County Chamber of Commerce has new events on the way, including a 5K fundraiser, Orange reopen golf outing, and a small business network. For more information, or to become a member, visit orangeny.com.